Monthly Archives: May 2018

Would you like to be involved in blanket bog restoration? It’s a beautiful and important habitat that helps to filter our drinking water; is home to amazing plants and animals; locks up carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere; slows the flow of rainwater into our rivers and so can help manage flooding. Unfortunately, much of this habitat is badly eroded and we need your help to restore it.

Volunteers will be collecting seeds from two species of cottongrass; Eriophorum angustofolium and vaginatum. After collection, we will cultivate them in a nursey for transplantation at sites within the North Pennines AONB. Cottongrasses are important peat-forming species typical of upland bog habitats. They are characteristic of moorlands, with white-cottony heads that bloom during the summer months. Collecting viable seed sources will enable the reintroduction of cottongrass to degraded areas within the North Pennines AONB and improve blanket bog vegetation.

You’ll be collecting seeds at Glasson Moss, part of South Solway Mosses National Nature Reserve, located approximately 22km west of Carlisle, Cumbria. Parking is located near the reserve entrance between Kirkbride and Bowness-on-Solway. Parking is tight, if attending and possible please consider car sharing on the day to increase available parking space.

Glasson moss is situated in a boggy, exposed location meaning weather can change rapidly. Volunteers will need to dress appropriately in warm clothes and waterproofs, gloves and robust footwear. The event will be outdoors for all of the day so volunteers should bring packed lunch and drinks. Sun-cream and insect repellent are also recommended.

Healthy peatland can play an important role in both flood risk reduction and carbon storage. This was the take home message for two Yorkshire MPs who took part in an event organised by IUCN UK Peat Programme on a Pennine PeatLIFE site in Bishopdale, which demonstrated work on natural flood management and peat restoration.

The enthusiasm of Rishi Sunak (Richmond) and Julian Sturdy (York Outer) is captured in this short (4’ 30”) film by the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP). The film focuses on partnership working for sharing knowledge and best practice. It also celebrates how academics and practitioners are working together through iCASP to use insights from previous research programmes to drive innovation and cost-effectiveness in current and future programmes of flood management and carbon storage to benefit Yorkshire communities.